Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1887-02-17

u reckon you're stranger hereF
u am-to this sort OF thing, certainly,
though live dozen miles from here, at Ea-
giles Court returned Hale scornfuIly.
"Then you're the chap that's dcin' that
fancy ranchin' over at Eagles continued
the man laziiy.
4Whatever Pm doing at Eagles Court I'm
not ashamed of it, said Hale tartly; aand
that's more than can say of what I've done
OR haven't done-to-night. I've been one OF
six men overawed and robbed by three"
Gas to the overawin', ez you call it-meb-
be you know more about it than us AS to
the robbin-ez far as l kin remember, you
haven't onloaded much. Ef you're talkin'
about what oughter've been done, I'll tell you
what could have happened. Praps ye no
ticed that when he pulled up made a kind
Of grab for my Weeping behind melp
Il did; and you weren't quick enough, .
said Hale shortly.
81 wasn't quick enough, and that saved
you. For ef got that pistol out and in sight
o. that man that held the gun ~
well" said Hale impatiently, ''he'd have
hesitated."
He'd hev blown you with both barrels
outer the window, and that before I'd got q
half cock on my revolver"
''But that would have been only one man
gone, and there would have been five Of you
left, )" said Hale heughtily
THAT might have been eff you'd contracted
to take the hull charge Of two handfuls of
buekshot and slugs; but ez one-eighth Of that
amount would have done your business, and
yet left enough to have gone round, promis-
kiss, and satisfied the other passengers, 1t
wouldn't do to kalkilate upon
But the express messenger and the driver
were armed, !" continued Hale.
"They were armed, but not fixed; that
makes all the difference"
81 don't understand"
81 reckon you know what duel isF'
"Yes.r
"Well, the chances agin us was about the
same as you'd have eff you was put up agin
another chap who was allowed to draw
bead on you, and the signal to fire was your
drawin' your weapon. You may be
stranger to this sort o. thing, and p'r'aps you
wouldn't go foolir' your life away on any
sich chances
Something in the mans manner, as in a
certain sly amusement the other passengers
appeared to extract from the conversation,
impressed Hale, already beginning to be con-
scious of the ludicrous insufficiencY of his OVID
grievance beside that of his interlocltor.
IL -,
evitable," said he bitterly, but less aggres-
sively.
Az long ez they hunt you; when you hunt
them you've got the adv antage, allus pro-
vided you know how to get at them ez well
as they know how to get Ct you. This yer
coach is bound to go regular, and on certain
days. They amt. By the time the sheriff
gets out his posse they've skedaddled, and the
leader, Ike as not, is tain' his quiet cocktail
at the Bank Exchange, or mebbe losin his
earnings to the sheriff over draw poker in
Sacramento. You see you can't prove any
thing agin them unless you take them 'on thu
fly.' 1t may be part of joaquin Murietta's
band, though / wouldn't swear to it."
1.-THE leader might have been Gentleman
George, from up country" interposed pas
senger. "He seemed TO throw in few fancy
touches, particlerly in that Good night
Sorter chucked q little sentiment in it.
Didn't seem to be the same thing ez Git, yer
id suckers, on the other line"
whoever he was he knew the road and
the men who travelled ON It. Like ez not hi
went over the line beside the driver on the
box on the down trip, and took stock of
everything. He even knew I had those
greenbacks, though they were handed to me
in the bank at Sacramento. He must have
been hangin' round there"
For some moments Hale remained silent.
He was civic-bred man, with an intense love
of law and order; the kind of man who is tho
first to take that law and order into his own
hands when he doeo not find it existing to
please him He had Bostonianis respect for
responsibility, tradition and propriety, but
was willing to face irregularity and impro-
priety to create order elsewhere. He was
fond of nature with these limitations, never
quite trusting her unguided instincts. and
finding her as an instructress greatly in
ferior to Harvard university, though posi-
bly, not to Cornell. With dauntless enter
prise and energy he had built and stocked
charming cottage farm in a nook in the
Sierras, whence 40 opposed, like the lesser
Englishman that he was his own tastes to
those Of the alien west. III the present in
stance he felt it incumbent upon him not
only to assert his principles, but to act upon
them with his usual energy How far he
was impelled by the half contemptuous
passiveness of his companions it would be
difficult to say.
"What is to prevent the pursuit of them at
oncer he asked suddenly. 1--WE are few
miles from the station, where horses can be
procured"
"Whos to do it?r replied the other lazily.
"The stage company win lodge the complaint
with the authorities, but it will take two days
to get the county officers out, and it's nobody
else's funeral"
II viii go for one" said Hale quietly. 81
have horse waiting for me at the station,
and can start at once"
There was an instant of silence The stage
coach had left the obscurity of the forest, and
by the stronger light Hale could perceive that
his companion was examining him with two
colorless, lazy eyes. Presently he said, meet
ing Hales clear glance, but rather as If yield
ing to a careless reflection:
1T might be done with four men. We
oughter raise one man at the station He
paused II don't know ez I'd mind taking
hand myself" lie added, stretching out his
lac-o with n eIioht vavn
aye can count me in, if you're goin', kernel
reckon I'm talkin to Kernel Clinch,r said
the passenger beside Hale with sudden alac-
rity. ''I'm Rawlins, of Frisco. Herd of We
afore, kernel, and kinder spotted you jist
now from your talk
To Hales surprise the two men, after awk
wardly and perfunctorily grasping each
others hand, entered at once into languid
conversation on the recent election at Fresno,
without the slightest further reference TO the
pursuit of the robbers. TWAS not until the
remaining and undenominated passenger
turned TO Hale, and, regretting that he had
immediate business at the Summit offered to
accompany the party if they would wait
couple of hours. that Col Clinch briefly re-
turned to the subject
-Four men will do, and ez we'll hev to take
horses from the station wen hev to take the
fourth man from there"